Unknown Contender
by MaerAlveron
Summary: Harry Potter disappeared from the Wizarding World 8 years ago. His brother, Daniel, is the Boy Who Lived and deeply resents his brother. Who knows what will happen when Harry's name is drawn from the Goblet of fire and where will it lead?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

"The third and final champion who is representing Hogwarts is: Cedric Diggory!" Dumbledore announced.

Dumbledore smiled as he gazed around the hall as the Hufflepuff table erupted into cheers. His gaze lit upon Daniel Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived. He sighed as he looked at him and thought about where he messed up. He was an arrogant bully who had below average grades.

Still disappointed in Daniel Potter, his gaze swept up to see Lily and James Potter. Lily was the new Muggle Studies professor while James was an auror stationed at Hogwarts to oversee the tournament. After they found out that Harry had disappeared Lily had caved into herself and was rarely seen smiling. The same had happened to James but he managed to recover when his youngest son received his Hogwarts letter.

"Mr. Diggory, please step through this door to the antechamber." said Dumbledore. "Now that the final champion has been chosen, everyone-" As he went to dismiss everyone from the Great Hall the Goblet of Fire flared a bright red again and a small strip of paper flew out of the top. With trepidation, Dumbledore's hand snaked out and grabbed the paper. As he read it his eyes grew wide and everyone in the Great hall could see something they had never seen before. Fear.

Clearing his throat a couple times led to some irritation from the assembled students and teachers alike for stalling. Just as Madame Maxine and Igor Karkaroff were going to stand up and berate him for not telling them who's name came out of the goblet he said in a clear voice, "Harry Potter."

Immediately he heard gasps of surprise all around the room. Looking at his staff table he saw Lily Potter holding her hand to her mouth with he eyes wide and searching frantically around the room. Her husband was also searching the room carefully but, as he glanced at Daniel Potter, he saw that, while he was looking around to try and find his brother, he was also scowling and fingering his wand.

All around the hall the students were muttering to each other things like, "I didn't know Daniel had a brother." or "I wonder how old he is." or, in the case of some of the female groups, "I wonder if he is hot."

Suddenly the door to the Great Hall banged open causing everyone to jump in their seats and turn to face the door. Dumbledore had his wand out in an instant and pointed at the newcomer to the room. He sighed visibly when all he saw was an obviously frightened and panting Filch.

He straightened his robes and asked "Mr. Filch, Whatever is the matter?"

"P-p-people at the f-front gate."stuttered Filch before he fainted on the spot in fear.

In the hall it was deathly quiet until the Weasley twins were heard congratulating whoever managed to scare Filch so bad he fainted and then the hall erupted into a cacophony of noise. It took Dumbledore shooting off several cannon blasts from his wand to restore order to the Great Hall.

"Minerva please see the students to bed while I check upon our mysterious visitors. Filius if you would be so kind as to float Mr. Filch to the infirmary and tell Madam Pomfrey a calming drought is in order. Alastor please come with me." Dumbledore ordered as he instantly took charge.

As Dumbledore and Alastor hurried from the hall Lily cried out, "Albus, if it is my son I should come with you."

"No Lily." replied Dumbledore, "We do not know for sure if it is your son and you might be in danger if you come. Stay here and wait for more information or, if you must help, please escort the Ravenclaws to their common room."

"I am going to disillusion myself and provide support, Albus." said Alastor as they reached the main entrance to the castle.

"That sounds like an excellent idea Alastor." said Dumbledore. Dumbledore hurried down the path faster that his age showed and faster than Alastor could manage and he slowly fell behind. As he reached the front gate he saw with surprise that, while there was only two people waiting for them, they had somehow gotten inside the main gate and the only way to enter the grounds was to be allowed by the headmaster himself.

He stopped 10 yards from them and stated "Who are you and what is your business here." while loosely holding his wand.

The 2 strangers seemed to study him while he fidgeted under the intense scrutiny. This, however allowed him to get a better look at the 2 strangers that were both obviously male. The taller one was standing on the right covered by a deep cloak that prevented him from seeing anything except for the eyes. They were a golden color that seemed to have an unreadable amount of power swirling in their depths.

His companion seemed to be a bit younger and dressed the same way except for his eyes were an emerald green that resembled the killing curse and were the coldest eyes he had ever seen. It made him shiver just by looking at them. They seemed to be able to peer into his very soul.

The older companion started talking first. His voice was a deep, smooth baritone that one only achieved from age leading Dumbledore to believe that he was older than he looked.

"Are you alone?" asked the older man.

Not wanting to give up the advantage of Alastor if it came down to a fight, he replied with an affirmative "Yes."

The man sighed "Why are you lying Albus Dumbledore? Not only are you lying about not bringing anyone else here, but that person is also under the effects of a polyjuice potion."

Dumbledore felt his blood run cold at that revelation. He had thought that Alastor had been acting slightly off but put it down to his paranoia and the recent attack on his house. He tightened his grip on his wand and called out to 'Alastor'.

"Alastor you can come out. They know you are here." he called.

"Do not worry Dumbledore. I have taken care of him." said the older person as his eyes glowed with power and suddenly Alastor Moody was lying in front of him stunned and bound.

"Although," he continued "I am surprised that you did not realize that he is an imposter."

Dumbledore gaped at the man. "There is no way he is an imposter. I have known him for years and I am positive I would notice some change in his behavior." said Dumbledore.

"Believe what you want." shrugged the man "But be ready to be wrong in about an hour and for me to say I told you so. Now I am here to talk about the most recent drawing of the Triwizard Tournament."

"How do you know about that" asked Dumbledore suspiciously. "There hasn't been enough time for the students to tell their parents so the only way for you to know is either you put his name in the Goblet or you were there and seeing as I know you weren't it only leaves that you put his name in the Goblet."

"Are you purposefully being slow or are you actually senile?" asked the man with gold eyes.

Dumbledore gaped at the man. No one had ever talked to him like that and, while he found it quite refreshing that the man spoke his mind to him, he was also insulted by the derogatory tone he used.

The man continued "I have just showed you that one of your staff was an imposter that used polyjuice potion to continue his farce and you have the gall to blame me?" said the man incredulously.

"Ok I'll be the first to admit that that wasn't one of my better thought trains." confessed Dumbledore.

"How right you are." the man mumbled to himself. "Now, "he said, clapping his hands. "I am here about the final champion."

"Ah yes. About that. The person in question ran away from home 8 years ago and hasn't been seen since. Many believe him to be dead." said Dumbledore.

"When you say many does that include you?" asked the man

"Unfortunately yes. There is no way he could of survived on his own at such a young age and without the things that are essential to life." Dumbledore said sadly.

Suddenly the man with the green eyes spoke up for the first time. "Well you would be wrong." And with that statement he threw his hood back.


	2. Chapter 2

Dumbledore mouth fell open in shock. He had never been happier in his entire life. Finally, after 8 long years he could finally apologize to the young man and make up for his past mistakes.

"Harry, my boy, I cannot express in words how happy I am to see you safe and healthy." Dumbledore said while wiping a tear from his eye. "Come with me. I will take care of you and you can meet your family again."

"You are mistaken Dumbledore." said Harry. "There is no way I would go with you when you didn't even help me and why would I want to meet my family that ignored me and rejected me from ever having a proper childhood."

Dumbledore's mouth fell open in shock at Harry's words. Never in his extremely long life had he entertained the notion that a young boy would not want to go back to his family; especially in a society run by purebloods who emphasized family.

"Actually I should thank them for ignoring me because then I would never have met my current guardian and learned all I have about magic." Harry smiled coldly at Dumbledore.

Dumbledore felt growing horror rising in his body. Currently Harry was on the path to darkness and Dumbledore feared he would become like another promising young student who had fallen to the darkness, Tom Riddle. He knew that it wasn't his fault that made Tom become Lord Voldemort but he couldn't help but feel that it was.

Harry suddenly focused back on Dumbledore. "Anyway, I have to stay at the castle because my name came out of the Goblet. Is there any way to take me out of it?" Harry asked.

"I am sorry, my boy, for not helping you earlier. It is one of my most regretted decisions that I have made. As for the tournament, there is no way for you to back out of it and, as you said before, you have to stay in the castle for the contract to be fulfilled." Dumbledore said.

"Of course there is no way to get out of the contract and I really don't want to have to destroy the Goblet so I guess I have to compete." sighed Harry.

Suddenly the other man spoke up. "Harry, are you sure that you want to stay here?" he asked.

Dumbledore frowned at the man. "Of course he wants to stay here and make it up with his parents and brother. Where else would he go?"

Harry snorted in amusement and shook his head at the headmaster's naivety. He couldn't understand the Dumbledore's thought train and quite frankly he didn't want to know it.

"Could you erect privacy wards? I really don't want him to hear this." Harry asked his companion while jerking a thumb over his shoulder towards Dumbledore.

"Of course I can. Do you doubt my skills?" he asked. The mysterious man waved his hand and suddenly the most powerful privacy wards that Dumbledore had ever felt were erected.

Dumbledore was shocked at the relative ease that the man put the wards up and was slightly worried when he didn't use a wand to put them up. He tested the strength of the wards slightly and was shocked when the man suddenly looked at him like he knew what he was doing.

Inside the privacy ward, the man asked "Harry, are you sure this is the right choice? You know that your family is in there and will try to talk to you."

"I am sorry for leaving you but this is something I have to do. I need to confront them and find out why." Harry replied.

"I knew you were going to say that." the man sighed. "If you're going to be leaving me at least take this as a gift." he said as he held out a moleskin pouch enchanted to be expanded indefinitely.

"No!" Harry said. "You have already given me enough. All I could ask for was you to care for me. That is all I will ever need."

"Harry, you made an old man who had spent far too many years locked up in a dusty library come out into the open and live again. Taking you in was the least I could do for you. Now this is something that I want to do for you." the man said.

Harry tried to smile at the man but failed bitterly as tears slowly filled up his eyes. The man saw this and drew him into a hug.

"I will always be with you, whether you want it or not. All you have to do is ask for help. Remember that you do have friends to help you with everything and do not be scared to ask for help. I love you like the son I never had Harry." the man whispered into Harry's ear.

"I love you too… Merlin" Harry said back, his voice cracking. Slowly he drew away and wiped his eyes clear of tears. With a nod to Merlin the privacy ward fell.

"My boy, are you ready to come back to your family?" Dumbledore asked, unaware of the depth of what had transpired.

At this Harry stood up tall and replied in a firm tone "Yes."

As Dumbledore levitated the fake Alastor Moody, Harry cast one last look back at Merlin.

Merlin slowly raised his hand in a farewell to his adopted son. He would miss his presence around him, constantly asking questions but he felt it was for the best. Harry would have had to gone out into the world some time and at least where he was now, Merlin knew he was protected.

Harry sighed one last time and turned back towards the castle. As he gazed up at Hogwarts he couldn't help but be impressed. Even from the outside the castle radiated power like no other place. He knew that, while he would be safe from physical harm, he wasn't so sure what his mental state would be after being locked up in a castle with his family that abandoned him.


End file.
